Collection Presidential Retreats
Presidents have found different ways to escape the pressures and politics of the position. For early leaders, it was a...
Easter Egg Roll: Games, Old and New
How Long? 1 minute
Library of Congress
The primary Easter Monday entertainment at the White House has always involved egg rolling. Participants roll dyed, hard-boiled eggs across the grass to see whose will go the furthest before cracking. Other egg sports enjoyed in the early years were egg ball, toss and catch, egg croquet and egg picking—a contest where eggs are pecked together until they crack. After a few days, the odor of all the eggs broken in these free-form games "could be smelled three square miles away."
George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
In 1929, First Lady Lou Hoover hoped to end the rotten egg stench by introducing folk dancing. Her successor, Eleanor Roosevelt, thought it better to impose a sense of structure to egg-based activities. First Lady Pat Nixon's staff arranged the only Easter egg hunt with actual eggs. Unfound eggs quickly reminded people of why Mrs. Hoover had favored folk dancing. In 1974, the Nixons hosted the egg roll races, an event which has become an Easter Monday favorite.
White House Historical Association
You Might Also Like
-
-
Collection White House Easter Egg Roll
Since 1878, American presidents and their families have celebrated Easter Monday by hosting an 'egg roll' party. Held on the South...
-
Collection The Kennedy Rose Garden
It's hard to imagine that it was something as casual as a lunch conversation between a newly elected president and...
-
Collection Presidents & Baseball
No sport is more closely tied to the American presidency than baseball. One of Washington’s first baseball fields was lo...
-
Collection The Presidents
Biographies & Portraits
-
Collection The First Ladies
Biographies & Portraits
-
Collection Animal Ambassadors
Animals, whether pampered household pets, working livestock, birds, squirrels, or strays, have long been a major part of White House...
-
Collection White House in Bloom
Today's White House grounds are a site to behold. What started as 85 acres of land chosen by George Washington, was...
-
Bio Jane Harrison
When William Henry Harrison's wife decided not to go to Washington with him, the president-elect asked his daughter-in-law Jane Irwin...
-
Bio Hannah Van Buren
Cousins in a close-knit Dutch community, Hannah Hoes and Martin Van Buren grew up together in Kinderhook, New York. They...
-
Bio Angelica Van Buren
Martin Van Buren never remarried after his wife, Hannah, died on February 5, 1819. He entered the White House in 1837 as a...
-
Bio Abigail Powers Fillmore
First of the first ladies to hold a job after marriage, Abigail Fillmore was helping her husband's career. She was...
